kaupunkilohkoetäisyys

Kaupunkilohkoetäisyys, often translated as "urban block distance" or "city block distance," is a concept used in urban planning and transportation studies to measure the distance between two points within a city, specifically considering the street network. It differs from Euclidean distance, which is the straight-line distance between two points, by accounting for the grid-like or irregular patterns of streets that pedestrians and vehicles must follow.

To calculate kaupunkilohkoetäisyys, one typically sums the lengths of the street segments that form the shortest path between the origin and destination. This often involves navigating through intersections and along street edges, rather than cutting across buildings or open spaces. The metric is particularly relevant in cities with a well-defined street grid, where movement is largely constrained to these pathways.

The practical applications of kaupunkilohkoetäisyys are numerous. It is used in assessing walking and cycling times, planning public transportation routes, analyzing accessibility to services, and understanding pedestrian flow. For instance, a shop might be relatively close in Euclidean terms, but if the kaupunkilohkoetäisyys is significant due to circuitous street layouts, it might be perceived as less accessible to pedestrians. This metric provides a more realistic representation of travel distance in urban environments.